North East house prices “rising at faster rate than London” and worth £1200 more since start of 2018

Average North East house prices were 0.7% up in January – adding over £1200 to the value of the average home – with values on the rise in 80% of the North East.

• Sunderland properties worth 6.4% more than at the start of 2017, with Whitburn properties gaining £13,000 in value.
• Jarrow is this month’s property hotspot with properties appreciating in value at 3.2% – compared to 1.8% in London.
• Year-on-year average rise in North East house prices of 3.2% (over £5000 in cash terms)
• North East rents fall slightly to £598pcm, typical returns for investors currently 4.2%

Figures compiled by my companies sales and lettings firm KIS and deposit free renting firm Dlighted indicate a great start to 2018 for North East homeowners.

Average house prices in the North East appear to have risen by 0.7% over the course of January, adding £1251 to the value of the average home.

An average property in the region was valued at £168,842 at the end of January – 3.2% higher than the £163,591 recorded at the same point in 2017, a jump of £5251 in cash terms.

The figures show Jarrow and Blyth to be this month’s North East house prices hotspots, boasting monthly property price growth of 3.2% and 2% respectively. This compares to the 1.8% recently recorded in London.

80% (16 of the 20) of the areas surveyed recorded property price rises, with only Darlington (-1.1%), Durham City (-1.1%) Houghton-le-Spring (-0.8%) and Killingworth (-0.3%) seeing prices fall.

North East house prices in Sunderland and Whitburn have performed strongest in percentage terms over the past 12 months, recording rises of 6.4% and 6.2% respectively.

Homes in Tynemouth and Whitley Bay have also performed strongly in cash terms, with property values up £10,404 and £11,116 respectively.

Renters in the region are slightly better off than they were four weeks ago, with average rents falling from £591 to £598 – saving tenants £22 a year.

Blyth is currently the cheapest place to rent in the North East, with average rents of £437 practically half those found in Whitburn (£862) – this month’s most expensive.

The North East continues to offer investors average rental yields of 4.2% – with landlords in Peterlee (6.1%) Newcastle and Seaham (5.3%) and Gateshead (5%) seeing the best returns.

Under this month’s figures, average tenancy deposits under the six week tenancy deposit cap proposed by the draft Tenant’s Fees Bill would see North East renters facing move in fees of at least £884 – rising to £1400 in Newcastle and £1160 in Durham City.

The New Year has started with another barrage of bad predictions from the usual doom-mongers, but here we see further proof that the foundations underpinning the North East economy remain strong, and our property market remains perfectly healthy.

Figures this week suggested that house prices are growing by 1.8% in London at the moment. If that’s the case, properties in places like Jarrow, Blyth and Easington and appreciating in value at a much faster rate.

What is clear is that landlords and letting agents are being squeezed financially. I know they don’t elicit that much sympathy, but ultimately this is likely to lead to increasing rents or decreasing investment.

The best solution is for landlords and letting agents to investigate deposit-free renting using deposit replacement insurance, cutting the cost of moving in for customers while allowing them to fill properties faster, cut administrative costs and protect themselves better against unpaid rent, legal fees and property damage.”

KIS Group were named Letting Agent of the Year in 2013 after becoming the first property firm in the UK to abolish tenancy deposits –replacing them with deposit replacement insurance.

Dlighted’s low cost deposit replacement insurance lowers the cost of renting for tenants while giving landlords the peace of mind of £500,000 of protection against property damage, £75,000 of cover for unpaid rent, and £50,000 of legal protection.

Dlighted is a deposit free renting alternative to a tenancy deposit scheme such as mydeposits, the Tenancy Deposit Service and the Deposit Protection scheme and deposit-free renting with Dlighted has been cited by 85% renters as their reason for choosing a particular letting agency.